


Hell of Hells

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Category: Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Nightwing 19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: They always say the hardest thing to do is admit something to yourself. And Dick can’t believe how right Dr. Simon Hurt was.





	Hell of Hells

**Author's Note:**

> A directly post-Nightwing 19 thing. Like immediately after the last two pages of 19. Let’s take the assumption that Damian was ‘killed’ and this is his soul getting taken away/Dick bringing back. Not great, oh well. I just really want these two spinning in the void remembering how much they love each other. It’s not really Hell, I don’t think. Just say it’s some kind of afterlife.

It was hot.

Not like, raging fires, sweating to dehydration hot, but. Warm, like he was cocooned in a fluffy blanket. Just on the wrong side of uncomfortable. A little bit suffocating.

He didn’t expect Hell to be like that.

The _hell of hells_ , like Hurt said. He was just floating through it. Not incredibly sure what was happening or what he was supposed to do. All he knew right now was that Damian had been taken, had been _hurt_ and maybe _killed_.

Just to get at _him_.

And he needed to get back. That’s all he could think. He needed to get back, save Damian if he still could, protect his body and take him home if he couldn’t. He needed to get back to his own body, confirm what Hurt said. Confirm his little brother was actually dead.

He just _needed to get back._

He tried to glance around. Everything was red, or a shade of it, though he guessed he kind of expected that. At least Hell didn’t disappoint in its color scheme. There were no flames everywhere, though, so it didn’t live up to the stereotype there.

He could still hear Hurt laughing, and he hated it. Tried to drown it out by focusing. Where he was, who he was, how he was going to get out.

 _Damian_.

The boy who died. The boy who lived. The boy who, Dick knew, loved him more than anyone, and he took it all for granted.

The one Simon Hurt had called his _heir_.

His heart ached at that. Damian as his heir. That would make him Damian’s father, and as much as he loved the kid right back – that was a title he didn’t _deserve_.

He wasn’t given a chance to deny that claim, though he found his mind drifting now, wondering if he would, had Hurt not sent him to…wherever he was.

Was this really Hell? Like, _really_ -really?

He could hear monsters far away, heard them growling and moving, probably coming for him. Twisted to look for them, to prepare himself. Figure out a way to wrangle one, maybe he could just ride it out of-

“Grayson!”

The name felt like a bullet through the soul, the fear in the voice made him gasp for breath. He looked around even more frantically, and for the longest moment, could find nothing.

Until finally-

 _“Grayson!”_ Damian called again, and the sounds of growls and thrashing weren’t monsters coming for him. They were the sounds of monsters trying to capture and devour his little brother.

And Damian, in full Robin garb, was fighting for his life. Wrapped in a snake-like tentacle, where every pull just tightened the bind around him. Another two monsters were snapping sharp teeth at his face, teasing him just to terrify him more.  

“Grayson, _please_!”

Dick twisted his body until he was facing Damian, and then willed himself to swim through the red towards him. It worked, surprisingly enough, and he didn’t question it.

Because his brother needed him.

Damian got an arm free, and reached up towards him. The monsters didn’t like that, growling louder, pulling Damian further into the depths of the red.

“Grayson!” Damian cried again.

Dick grit his teeth, tried to drown out the noises. The monsters growling. Hurt’s constant laughter. The commentary underneath.

_But it was right in front of me. All along. In your heir…_

No. No, he had no _right_. Hurt had no right to put that into his head. Dick had no right to even _think_ …to even _hope_ …

_…Your heir…_

“Grayson, I can’t…!”

His brother needed him.

_Robin dies at dawn._

“Grayson, please! I can’t…I can’t _reach you!_ ”

His…his protégé needed him?

He reached his arm out further, spread his fingers, bit his lip.

 _…Your_ heir _…_

His...child needed him?

Time wouldn’t stop slowing. Every second was an hour. A day. Damian gasped, in pain. In defeat. Tears were streaming down his face.

Dick tried to move faster. Didn’t even know how movement worked in this realm, but he _needed to move faster._

Because he couldn’t. He _couldn’t_.

He couldn’t lose his-

**_Your. Heir!_ **

_“Grayson, please!!”_

Son. He couldn’t lose his son.

He couldn’t lose his baby again.

Because that’s what he was. That’s what Damian has always been to him. His baby. The love of his life.

And Damian knew that. Deep down, he knew that’s what he was. That’s why he was so threatened by the idea that Shawn might be pregnant. That’s why he was so scared of being replaced.

But didn’t he know?

Suddenly, their fingers brushed and Dick lashed out, grabbing Damian’s hand as tightly as he could.

The monsters growled and howled and finally turned their attention to Dick, but he didn’t care, not as he wrapped his other hand around Damian’s wrist and pulled with all his might.

Damian instantly slipped from the bonds.

And the monsters disappeared.

The voices and laughter and commentary went silent.

And he pulled Damian into his arms. Floated peacefully in Hell as he wrapped himself protectively around his baby. Smiled into his hair, kissed at his temple. Let Damian cling to him in relief, hold him in return in fear.

“Don’t you know?” Dick whispered, holding the back of his baby’s head. “Nothing and _no one_ could ever replace you. Not to me. Not _ever_.”

“What’s happened?” Damian asked shakily, face pressed against Dick’s chest. “Where are we?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Dick hummed, and already, he could feel them lifting. Back to that surface he fell through. And was it really that easy? Hurt was going on and on, something about the only way to get back was blood or sacrifice or something, but…was all he needed really just…Damian? Did he really just have to admit to himself what Damian was? What Damian had _always_ been to him? “You’re safe now.”

Damian just held on to him tighter.

“I love you.” Dick whispered. “I love you more than anything, Damian.”

“I…know.” Damian returned hesitantly.

“No, I know you don’t, and that’s my fault.” Dick squeezed him harder, even as they began moving faster. Would they just hit the surface like it was an ocean? Would it be a door? Would Damian be ripped from his arms? “But I’ll do better. When we get back to our bodies, and once I kick Hurt’s ass for trying to take you away from me, I’ll do better. I swear.”

“Grayson…”

“I know. Everything’s a mess right now, and nothing makes sense, but I promise, I’ll explain everything when we’re out of here.” Dick reiterated. He could feel the portal – however they would go through it – approaching, and suddenly, it was beginning to worry him. So he shifted, kept one arm protectively around Damian, used the other one to hold his face, and tilt Damian’s gaze up to look at him. “And I don’t know what’s going to happen right now. We’re going to be safe, I can feel it, but I don’t know how we’re going to get to where we need to be. But I just need you to know, okay? I just need you to focus on this and this alone, at least until you see me again, in the real world.”

Damian blinked, eyes darting between his.

“I love you. I will never _not_ love you. You are my whole world. You always have been and always will be.” Dick emphasized. Damian just swallowed the lump in his throat. “And you can never – absolutely _never_ – be replaced.”

Damian just stared for a moment. Then his eyes jerked past Dick, probably looking at the approaching portal, then back again. “…Promise?”

“On my life.” Dick grinned. “As soon as we’re out, as soon as you, me and Shawn are safe – we’ll talk, man to man. Just like you want. Just like we need to.”

And still, Damian hesitated. “…Okay.”

Dick laughed. “Okay.” He carefully tucked Damian back under his chin, held him as tight as he could as he hid his face in his hair and closed his eyes. “Just focus on what I said, okay? I love you. More than anything. Just keep repeating that until you wake up. And then keep repeating it until I get to you.”

“Okay.” Damian wheezed. “Okay, Grayson.”

Dick kept his smile, even as he felt more than saw the burst of light behind him.

“See you on the other side, kid.”


End file.
